Method of marking materials



N. SMITH. METHOD OF MARKING MATERIALS. APPLICATION. FILED SEPT- 4. 1919.

1,374,329. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

INVENTOR O %;f; ATTORNEY UNITED STATES NATHAN SMITH, OF NEW YORK, INT-Y-METHOD OF MARKING MATERIALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

Application filed September 4, 1919. Serial No'. 321,601.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN SMITH, a citizen of .the United States,residing at New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of MarkingMaterials; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to thereference-numerals marked thereon.

This invention has to do with the manufacture of fabric and similarmaterials into apparel and other articles, and, more particularly withthe marking of patterns and other lines and points upon the material forguiding the worker in cutting out the desired forms and otherwise makingup the articles, the chief object of the invention being to provide arapid, economical and effective method of marking the material.

Another object is to provide a method for marking the material whicheffects a saving in labor and in materials used, While securely placingupon the material a mark which can be readily removed when its purposeis accomplished. To these and other ends the invention consists incertain improvements and combinations of parts all as will behereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed outin the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: a a

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a plurality of layers of cloth with apattern indicated thereon and showing the marking of the cloth.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the same illustrating themethod of marking the cloth.

Similar reference characters throughout the several views lndlcate thesame parts.

In the manufacture of articles 1n quantity from the whole material ofwhich they are composed, as, for example, in the manufac ture of wearingapparel, 1t 1s frequently found convenient to superimpose a pattern fora portion of the garment or other article button holes, pockets andother trimmings it is convenient to mark the cloth at the point wheresuch finishing operations are to be made, and for the purpose of rapidproduction of the articles in quantities it is a practice to superimposea pattern on a plurality of layers of material placed one above theother and to mark all of the layers at the same time from a singlepattern.

One method of accomplishing this result has been to run a needle havinga long thread through all of the layers of cloth, leaving the thread inthe cloth and then slightly separating the layers and clipping thethread between them, so that a short length of thread is left in thecloth at each point to be marked, which threads are visible when thelayers are separated for opera tion thereon. This work rather delicateand requires skilled operatives and is other-. wise expensive in that avery considerable quantity of thread of good qualityis con sumed.Furthermore the short portions of thread are liable to be inadvertentlyremoved from the cloth so that the mark on the latter is destroyed.Other methods of accomplishing the desired result have been used, buthave been characterized by the above as well as other objectionablefeatures which this invention overcomes.

The present invention comprises the marking of the material, in as manylayers thereof as it is convenient to use at one time, with a substancewhich isnot removed by the necessary operations on the material, suchfor example as wetting or steaming er heating the cloth, but which mayhowever, be readily removed when its function has been-accomplished bythe use of common volatile solvents.

To this end use is made of an adhesive plastic or waxy substance, suchfor example, as petroleum or other waxes or mixtures thereof with whichis incorporated an inorganic, water-insoluble salt such as calciumcarbonate, or other inert material, the mixture being preferably put upin a carton or othercontainer convenient in form for ap plying thesubstance to a thread either by the hands or by drawing the threadthrough the substance. The calcium carbonate being white, produces asubstance having a white color contrasting with that of most materials,but of course, other coloring matter may be employed if desired, theobject 7 material.

in this respect beingto provide a substance contrasting in color withthe material being used.

The thread, indicated at .5, Fig.2, having been coated or impregnatedwith the substance, is then run through-the one or more layers 6 ofmaterial being used, by means of a needle 7 or other instrument, tooutline the pattern thereon, or to markcertain portions thereof, as forexample the pockets 8 and buttons or button holes 9, Fig. 1, and

the substance is deposited by the thread on' the material wherever itpasses through the,

latter, as indicated at 10, Fig. 2. Owing to its adhesive Waxy nature,the substance can be applied by the thread to quite a number of layersof material-each time the thread is coated, and the thread is, of coursereadily recoated when its supply of the marking substance becomesexhausted.

great deal of material so that the cost of the operation inmaterialsexpended is very low. The marking is thus quickly and economicallyefi'ected and without further operations, such for example as theclipping of the thread referred to above, which mate vrially reduces thelabor costs.

tion thereto of buttons, button holes,pockets and other trimmings andfinishing operations, andwhen the articles have been completed and themarks have accomplished their function, theymay be readily removed bycommon volatile solvents, such for ex- ;The latter. is of a verymexpenslve nature and a single thread may of course be used to mark aample as benzene, ether, chloroform and the like, at such points atwhich the marks would be observed if left on the garment.

The markingin this manner may be accomplished on a large number oflayers of material, simultaneously, accurately and in an efl'ectivemanner requiring very little expense either for materials and forskilled labor. I i

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of marking material for operations to be performed thereonwhich consists in superimposing a plurality of layers of'themateriahcoating a thread with an adhesive Substance substantiallyunaffected by water, water vapor or heat andcontrasting in color withthe material, and drawing said thread through the layers of material andthereby leaving a portion of said substance visible on each layer at apoint to be marked.

2. A method of marking materialfor operations to be performed thereonwhich consists in superimposing a pattern on a plurality of layers ofmaterial, coating a thread with aplastic substance contrasting in colorwith the material and insoluble in water or water vapor and unaffected}by heat, and drawing said thread through said layers of material at aplurality of points 011 the patternand'thereby leaving a portion of saidsubstance visible on each layer'of material at points outliningsaidpattern.

3. A method of marking material for operations to be performed thereonwhich con sists in coating a thread with a substance substantiallyinsoluble in water or water vapor and unaffected by heat, such ascalcium carbonate, and contrasting in color with the material, drawingsaid thread through the material and thereby leaving a portion of saidsubstance visible onthe material at a point to bev marked, and subsequently removing said substance from the material by a volatilesolventsuch asbenzene.

NATHAN SMITH.

